Peer Learning Round Table on Sustainable Development Goal 5 “The time is now: Inclusive, evidence-based and transformative solutions for gender equality and women’s empowerment”

Gender equality is a key driver of the 2030 Agenda, with transformative potential across all Sustainable Development Goals. The Beijing +30 Political Declaration, adopted by consensus at the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, reaffirms that “gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls are essential for sustainable development and fulfilling our pledge to leave no one behind.”

Despite this, the latest assessments show the world is far from achieving gender equality by 2030, and the cost of inaction is immense. The UN estimates that, without urgent action to accelerate progress, it will take 286 years to close gaps in legal protection and eliminate discriminatory laws, 300 years to end child marriage, 140 years for equal representation of women in managerial roles, and 47 years to achieve gender parity in national parliaments. The 2024 UN global Gender Snapshot illustrates how slow progress on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 5) ricochets across the other goals, worsening outcomes for women and girls on poverty, health, and food security, and causing countries to miss out on billions in potential economic gains.

Progress on SDG 5 remains slow and uneven, exacerbated by intersecting crises such as the ongoing climate emergency, economic instability, multiple conflicts and war, and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The need for urgent, scalable solutions to accelerate action on gender equality has never been more crucial.

This peer learning round table will explore innovative, transformative, and actionable solutions to accelerate progress toward SDG 5 while addressing synergies across SDGs’ goals and targets. It will consider emerging challenges since 2022, when the Goal was last reviewed, and will also focus on the availability and use of gender data in policymaking and the intersection of population dynamics and gender – particularly in care ecosystems, social protection, and health, including sexual and reproductive health and rights.

📖 Gender Snapshot for Europe and Central Asia: Summary of Key Findings

This Gender Snapshot highlights the progress and challenges in achieving gender equality across the Europe and Central Asia region, thirty years after the Beijing Platform for Action and with only five years left to meet the 2030 Agenda. Covering 18 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Western Balkans and Türkiye, the snapshot presents key data on SDG 5 indicators, revealing that while some advancements have been made, structural barriers and discrimination continue to hinder progress.

Read the Report →